Switch



SWITCH Filed Deo. 19, 1938 2 Sheets-Shed l ,o y Y L Alg 70A 40 49X.

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ATTORNI YS Patented Oct. 28, 1941 SWITCH Robert K. Winning, Wauwatosa, Wis., assignor to Clum Manufacturing Company, Milwaukee, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Application December 19, 193s, serial No. 246,573

(ol. 20o-11) Claims.

This invention relates to switches, and particularly to that type or multiple circuit switch used in automobile lighting circuits.

It is the primary object of the invention to provide a simple and eiiicient push-button type switch employing a visual indicator device to enable the operator to instantlysee the switch setting.

A further object of the invention is to improve the ratchet and contact mechanism by employing a novel and improved method of construction which is simple in operation and easily serviced.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a vertica1 cross sectional view through the switch embodying the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view of the switch taken along line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view of the switch taken along line 3-3 of Fig. l. f

Fig. 4 is a side view showing the terminal head.

Fig. 5 is a front elevation.

Fig. 6 is a disassembled view in perspective of the ratchet members.

Fig. '7 is a plan view of the contact rotor.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary View of a contact point and rotor spring, taken along line 8 8 of Fig. '7.

Like parts are identified by the same reference characters throughout the several views.

The switch casing comprises a relatively rigid mounting bracket and face plate 9, to which is connected a casing l0 with an end wall II and a dielectric terminal head I2. The bearings I3 and I3 upon which push rod I 4 is reciprocably mounted are formed by pressure in the members comprising the switch casing. Rod I4 is comprised of a cylindrical bearing section I5, a rack section I 5, a reduced cylindrical section I1, and a further reduced bearing section I8, said last section being provided with a peripheral slot in which is disposed a split washer I9. Helically coiled about rod I4 is a compression spring 2B confined under pressure between guiding shoulder 22 of plate I I and shoulder 2l of shaft I4, thereby holding rod i4 at the limit of movement permitted by stop washer I9.

Mounted in the end wall Ill of the casing is a stud 28 provided at 30 with a stop collar beyond which extends a smaller diameter portion 26 of the stud to serve as a bearing for the rotatable parts of the switch.

Rotatable on the stud in pressure engagement with the stop collar 30 is a ratchet disk 25 having teeth 3l meshing with the rack teeth I6 of the as the push rod is pressed and released. Likewise rotatable upon portion 26 of stud 28 is the driven ratchet element 39 which comprises a generally cup-shaped contact actuator having its end wall i5 normally in thrust engagement with the face of ratchet disk 25 and centrally formed to provide a bearing sleeve 48. The peripheral side wall M is flanged adjacent its open end to provide the projecting cam lobes 451, from one of which the driving lug t9 is struck to project axially.

Punched from the end wall 45 of the actuator 35i are ratchet teeth 38 which are registerable with the openings 32 in the driving ratchet disk 25 so that upon engagement of the ends of said teeth with the shouldered portions of the disk at the ends of said openings motion may be transmitted in one direction of oscillation of disk 25 for the stepped rotation of the contact actuator 39.

The movable Contact element of the switch is mounted on a dielectric contact carrier 52 rotatably iioated on shaft 26. A single compression spring 4"! interposed between the floating contact carrier 52 and the contact actuator 39 not only maintains the ratchet parts in operative pressure engagement, but also reacts to press the contact ringer 58 of the moving contact 55 into operative engagement with the stationary contacts 59 conventionally mounted in the terminal head I2. The step by step movement of the actuator in one direction of rotation is transmitted to the contact carrier 52 by means of the lug 49 aforesaid, which projects into a slot 53 in the contact carrier. In order to assure the proper functioning of the ratchet mechanism and to resist any tendency of the actuator and carrier to rotate reversely to the desired direction, the contact fingers 58 are designed to ratchet over the stationary contacts. For this purpose the contact arms have a denite helical pitch, as clearly shown in Fig. 8, and are provided with abrupt radial shoulders at 5G in which the given stationary contact 59 is engaged in each operative position of the contactor to resist reverse movement of the contactor while permitting free movement in the desired direction (to the left as viewed in Fig. 8) toward the next operative station of stepped rotary advance.

With the contacter engaged with given contacts 59 of the terminal head I2 (some of such contacts being live contacts provided with terminal di! and others being dead contacts having no electrical connection), the push button I 4 may push rod i4, whereby said disk may be oscillated 55 be reciprocated to oscillate the ratchet disk 25.

As viewed in Fig. 1 the inward movement of the push button produces clockwise oscillation of disk 25, and the engagement of lugs 38 in the apertures of said disk will transmit the clockwise oscillation of the disk to the contact actuator 39 and thence, through lug 49, to the contact carrier. The driving rotation of the carrier is transmitted through lugs 51 of the contactor 55 to the contactor, thereby causing the Contact fingers 58 to ratchet over the contacts as above described. If the plunger I4 is fully depressed, the arms 58 of the contactor will, in the course of their rotatable advance, become engaged with the contacts of the terminal head in the next operative position of the mechanism and, by reason of shoulders 55, will tend to remain engaged with such next contacts to restrain the parts against reverse rotation when the plunger i4 is released.

Upon release of the plunger it moves to the right as viewed in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, thereby causing counterclockwise oscillation of the ratchet disk 25, In this direction of relative movement of the parts the contactor and its carrier and actuator will be restrained, but ratcheting between the disk and the actuator will occur to permit the plunger and disk 25 to assume their original positions while allowing the other parts of the switch to remain in the advanced station to which they have been moved by depression of the plunger.

It is, of course, broadly immaterial for the purposes of the present invention whether the ratchet mechanism be so designed as to advance the contactor to its new station during the initial movement of the plunger or upon its return movement, both types of mechanism being known to the art.

Since the same plunger movement is always repeated regardless of the station to which the switch contactor is to be set, there is nothing about the plunger position itself which would indicate to the operator what circuits are energized by the contactor. In order to give an indication of the contactor position and the circuit energized thereby, I provide an indicating mechanism actuated by the cam lobes 4D in the manner now described.

An arm 65 is pivoted to the back of the switch case l0 upon a stud 68. At an intermediate point the arm is provided with a flange 'I0 engaged by' successive lobes 4i) of the contact actuator. This particular switch is designed to make three complete cycles of its circuit positions in each single rotation of the actuator, and consequently three separate cams 49 are provided. The number of cams will, of course, correspond to the number of circuit closing cycles. A spring 'I8 iixed to the casing I0 has its free end bearing on flange 1G to hold the lever into operative engagement with the successive cams oi the actuator, whereby the angular position of the lever about its fulcrum will always bear a predetermined relation to the angle or position of the actuator.

The lever carries an indicator sheet at 'l1 which, in the present device, is preferably made translucent to be illuminated from the rear by a pilot light 19 which renders the indicia T5 on the indicator sheet clearly visible to the operator through a window in the mounting plate 9 about which I preferably form an integral bezel rib 16. As shown in the drawings this particular switch is designed for the control of the light circuits o an automobile, and it has an off position, a park position, and a head position. In the Fig. 1 and Fig. 4 position of the parts, the

contactor is not engaged with any of the live contacts 59 with which the several terminals 6l) are connected, and therefor none of the lighting circuits is closed. This is the position in which the word off on the indicator sheet 11 registers with the window in the mounting plate as shown in Fig. 5. The iirst time the plunger I4 is depressed and released, the contactor will be advanced one step to a station in which certain circuits controlling the parking lights will be closed. At this time the word park on the indicator sheet is registered with the window by the interaction of the appropriate cam 40 with the iiange or cam follower 10 of the lever 65. In the next successive operation of the plunger a different set of circuits is closed to control the headlights. The cam follower iiange 'l0 will now have reached the highest point radially of cam 40 and the indicator 'will display the word head through the window in the mounting plate. This completes the cycle and the next successive operation of the plunger will advance the actuator again to the ofi position and the lobe of the cam which has been acting on the cam follower ange 10 will pass from beneath such iiange, allowing spring 'I8 to restore the indicator to the oli position as illustrated in Figs. l and 5.

I claim:

1. In a switch, the combination with a terminal head provided with fixed contacts, of a contactor comprising movable contacts mounted to index respecting the xed contacts between a plurality of circuit opening and circuit closing positions, the contacts of said contactor and terminal head being formed for co-operative camming engagement and having shouldered portions resisting relative rotation in one direction while readily rotatable for advance in a predetermined opposite direction, ratchet mechanism comprising driving and driven elements provided with mutually engageable and disengageable teeth for the driving of the driven element in said predetermined direction, means connecting the driven ratchet element with the contactor, whereby the aforesaid interaction of said contacts will restrain the driven ratchet element against movement in opposition to said predetermined direction of advance, a cam formed on the periphery of the driven ratchet element, an indicator including indicia in sequence at three or more spaced portions and a cam follower portion operable by each lobe of said cam for successive registry of the indicia to indicate the position of the driven ratchet element and contactor, and push button means for the oscillation of the driving ratchet element, whereby to advance the driven ratchet element and actuator step by step in the predetermined direction and to indicate each position of stepped advance.

2. In a switch, the combination with a terminal head and a contactor respectively provided with complementary contacts, of ratchet means for the step by step advance of the contactor respecting the terminal head and comprising a driven ratchet element in operative connection with the contactor, said element having a notched periphery constituting cam lobesy and an indicator provided with a cam follower portion engaged with the notched periphery of said element to be operated thereby through a sequence of at least three positions on each cam lobe corresponding to successive positions of said contactor.

3. In a switch, the combination with a terminal head and contactor provided with complementary contact means, of means for indexing said contactor through a series of positions respecting said terminal head, certain of said contacts being formed to resist retrograde movement of said contactor respecting said head, actuating mechanism comprising driving and driven ratchet elements substantially co-axial with said contactor, a substantially axially extending compression spring interposed between the driven ratchet element and the contactor, and an indicator provided peripherally with a dial for showing successive positions of said contactor respecting said terminal head, said driven ratchet element comprising a cup-shaped member engaged at its closed bottom with the driving ratchet element for the indexing advance thereof, and a cam iiange with which a portion of said indicator is engaged to receive motion.

4. In a switch, the combination with a mounting, of a push rod having a button portion projecting from said mounting and provided with a rack, spring means biasing said rod to a position in which said button portion is exposed for manipulation, a toothed driving ratchet element meshing with said rack, a driven ratchet element arranged to receive motion in one direction of oscillation of the driving ratchet element upon manipulation of the push button,-a contactor in operative driven connection with the driven ratchet element for indexing movement, and a terminal head provided with xed contacts with which said contactor is selectively engageable in the course of such indexing movement, and an indicator operatively connected to receive motion concurrently with the indexing of said contactor to show the position thereof, said indicator comprising a lever pivoted to said mounting and having a dial portion movable respecting a portion of said mounting and carrying three or more groups of indicia for registry with said mounting portion, said driven ratchet element being provided with multiple cam lobes engaging said lever for the movement thereof.

5. In a switch, the combination with a mounting, of a push rod having a button portion projecting from said mounting and provided with a rack, spring means biasing said rod to a position in which said button portion is exposed for manipulation, a toothed driving ratchet element meshing with said rack, a driven ratchet element arranged to receive motion in one direction of oscillation of the driving ratchet element upon manipulation of the push button and provided with cam lobes in annular series, each cam lobe extending circumferentially of the cam rotor axis suiiciently to require at least four manipulations of the push button to move the entire cam lobe past a certain point, a contactor in operative driven connection with the driven ratchet element for indexing movement, and a terminal head provided with xed contacts with which said contactor is selectively engagcable in the course of such indexing movement, and an indicator pivoted to said mounting and having a portion in pressure engagement with one of said cam lobes whereby during operation of the device the indicator is successively actuated through a sequence of position on each cam lobe to show the position of the rotor.

ROBERT K. VJINNING. 

